The Associated Press on efforts to overturn gay marriage in Washington State picking up speed:

Opponents of gay marriage said Wednesday they have more than half of the signatures they need to qualify a proposed referendum seeking to overturn a law legalizing gay marriage in Washington state.

Joseph Backholm, with Preserve Marriage Washington, said that the campaign has 70,000 signatures on hand. Backers of Referendum 74 need 120,577 valid voter signatures in order to qualify the referendum for the ballot. The secretary of state's office recommends that campaigns submit about 150,000 signatures in order to provide a cushion for invalid or duplicate signatures.

"We have every expectation that this will be on the ballot," Backholm said.

Backholm said that so far, all of the signature collection has been done by volunteers, but the campaign hasn't ruled out employing paid signature gatherers for the final push. He said that many petitions have not been turned in.

"We're not concerned that there's a lack of support for the effort," he said. "But we want people to have a sense of urgency."

Learn more at PreserveMarriageWashington.com